Having a job and family life

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youngsterat16

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I want to major in American Sign Language and become an interpreter. (Where specifically I’m still unsure). I currently have little fluency in the language but I’m teaching myself until I’m able to take classes in college. I’m a junior this year and I’m trying to figure out some things now versus later.

Thing is I want to also to be able to have a home life. i know it’s possible and many women do this (some with no choice) and manage to do it, I really want to have a family and I do not want training and my Job getting in the way. But it seems being an interpreter involves a little more time being around your clients and involving yourself with them.

I’m just stressing over nothing right now I guess but still I’d like to know how you guys do it. My mom has been a stay at home mom so I have no idea what it’s like for someone who’s parents both work. I know it’s possible to enjoy both, but I’d appreciate any advice.
 
youngsterat16 said:
I want to major in American Sign Language and become an interpreter. (Where specifically I’m still unsure). I currently have little fluency in the language but I’m teaching myself until I’m able to take classes in college. I’m a junior this year and I’m trying to figure out some things now versus later.

Thing is I want to also to be able to have a home life. i know it’s possible and many women do this (some with no choice) and manage to do it, I really want to have a family and I do not want training and my Job getting in the way. But it seems being an interpreter involves a little more time being around your clients and involving yourself with them.

I’m just stressing over nothing right now I guess but still I’d like to know how you guys do it. My mom has been a stay at home mom so I have no idea what it’s like for someone who’s parents both work. I know it’s possible to enjoy both, but I’d appreciate any advice.
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How about finding some forums and asking around whether people are able to work part-time?
 
youngsterat16 said:
I want to major in American Sign Language and become an interpreter. (Where specifically I’m still unsure). I currently have little fluency in the language but I’m teaching myself until I’m able to take classes in college. I’m a junior this year and I’m trying to figure out some things now versus later.

Thing is I want to also to be able to have a home life. i know it’s possible and many women do this (some with no choice) and manage to do it, I really want to have a family and I do not want training and my Job getting in the way. But it seems being an interpreter involves a little more time being around your clients and involving yourself with them.

I’m just stressing over nothing right now I guess but still I’d like to know how you guys do it. My mom has been a stay at home mom so I have no idea what it’s like for someone who’s parents both work. I know it’s possible to enjoy both, but I’d appreciate any advice.
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Hi youngster at 16,

There are many different fields/areas in which you can work as a Sign Language Interpreter, for example.

The court system uses them.

The church will use them at Masses when there is a deaf population, too.

They are also used in education, where students may need an interpreter in a classroom setting, too.

I used to work in Spec. Ed. and I knew interpreters who used to free lance and would work part-time and would set their own hours so that they could spend time with their families and work around different jobs that they held, too.

For example, they might have had a regularly scheduled position that they had, but then they would take on other free lance jobs that would come up, and schedule those around their other jobs.

They worked as Independent Contractors and would work in different situations.
 
oldgraymare2 said:
Hi youngster at 16,

There are many different fields/areas in which you can work as a Sign Language Interpreter, for example.

The court system uses them.

The church will use them at Masses when there is a deaf population, too.

They are also used in education, where students may need an interpreter in a classroom setting, too.

I used to work in Spec. Ed. and I knew interpreters who used to free lance and would work part-time and would set their own hours so that they could spend time with their families and work around different jobs that they held, too.

For example, they might have had a regularly scheduled position that they had, but then they would take on other free lance jobs that would come up, and schedule those around their other jobs.

They worked as Independent Contractors and would work in different situations.
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This is very good advice!

If I were in your shoes, I might consider a special education degree or something similar, for more steady full-time work, that you could then scale back once you had children. You would be able to employ your skills and if you did interpreting on the side, you could build up a client base while you already had a steady income, rather than starting from scratch with no income.

(I basically take the mindset that while one is young and relatively unattached, one should work as much as possible to avoid incurring debt, even if it isn’t one’s dream job.)

Actually, if you aren’t already, I would highly suggest volunteering or taking part-time work with day camps or something similar where you would come into contact with Deaf or hard of hearing people, or others who would use sign language. The summer after my freshman year of college I was a day camp counselor for three year olds through the recreation department where I lived. The kids were adorable, and one of the little girls in my group had Down Syndrome and used ASL to communicate because her vocal skills were limited. She was a nifty little kid. 🙂 I chose that kind of part-time work because I was planning on being a teacher.
 
pensmama87 said:
This is very good advice!

If I were in your shoes, I might consider a special education degree or something similar, for more steady full-time work, that you could then scale back once you had children. You would be able to employ your skills and if you did interpreting on the side, you could build up a client base while you already had a steady income, rather than starting from scratch with no income.

(I basically take the mindset that while one is young and relatively unattached, one should work as much as possible to avoid incurring debt, even if it isn’t one’s dream job.)

Actually, if you aren’t already, I would highly suggest volunteering or taking part-time work with day camps or something similar where you would come into contact with Deaf or hard of hearing people, or others who would use sign language. The summer after my freshman year of college I was a day camp counselor for three year olds through the recreation department where I lived. The kids were adorable, and one of the little girls in my group had Down Syndrome and used ASL to communicate because her vocal skills were limited. She was a nifty little kid. 🙂 I chose that kind of part-time work because I was planning on being a teacher.
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I will keep all of this into mind, I’m not sure I exactly want to go into education but I’m not casting it aside either. I’ve tried finding if there was any particular place where I am that I could get some experience around such but haven’t found much of anything yet. I did come across a page that has a group of moms of deaf children that meet at a nearby chick fil a on certain Saturday mornings that I might try meeting up with in the future if I can’t find anything.

Thanks for the advice! 🙂
 
I used to take care of a deaf child and was helping him learn sign language, we’d watch the Signing Time videos. I think they’re great. They’re on youtube too.
Of course they’re for kids, you’re probably way beyond that. But they’re entertaining.
Just a thought.

.
 
Viki63 said:
I used to take care of a deaf child and was helping him learn sign language, we’d watch the Signing Time videos. I think they’re great. They’re on youtube too.
Of course they’re for kids, you’re probably way beyond that. But they’re entertaining.
Just a thought.

.
Click to expand...
I LOVE Signing Time! They are great for vocabulary. Yes, intended for kids, but I watch them with my kids and I am just as entertained as they are! I get the videos from the library.
 
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